Well dudes, after going through my photobucket account for the first time in years and finding a bunch of pictures that I deleted off old phones due to the “no storage left” life, I’ve finally decided to make a build thread for my tundra. I’m going to try to do this in the most chronological order as possible and not jump between timelines and events. Expect many edits as I’m sure many adult beverages will be consumed during the making of and the updating of this thread. I’m sure it’s going to take me a few days to bring the thread to current but feel free to ask any questions you might have about my truck or yours. I have a plethora of knowledge on the first gen Tundra’s and I love sharing it and helping out any way I can. I’ll include a few of what I’ll call “tundra PRO Tips” in this thread as well. Just little tips here and there to help you out in little or big ways if you’d like to build one of these trucks.
History: I bought her in February 2013. She had come up for sale on craigslist about a year prior and was exactly what I was looking for. It only popped up for sale that one time and luckily I took a screenshot of the ad. I texted the guy probably 10 months later when I had the cash to buy it and he still had it sitting in his garage in Upland. It was a 2nd vehicle for him and he only used it to take his dirt bike to the track and ocotillo.
It had 114k miles on the clock when I bought it and came with a Total Chaos kit on the front with a set of glassworks fenders. It was bone stock aside from that and the usual intake/exhaust/sound system.
The first trip out I quickly learned the truck had never been driven offroad, just like the guy I bought it from had told me. More details on that later.. (Not a good thing)
When I bought it, I owned Chris Isenhour’s old F150 and had the intention to build that, as that’s my all time dream truck to build a prerunner with. If I ever sell this truck, it will be a standard cab 92-96 F150 that I build next.
However, I needed a solid, reliable DD and work truck, and the tundra ended up being exactly what the doctor ordered. I sold the F150 a few days after buying the tundra. She’s been the most reliable, trusty steed I’ve ever owned. I had owned I think 6 fords previous to this Toyota and let me tell ya, this Toyota was a breath of fresh air; as far as reliability and durability goes. However, as far as building a prerunner out of, the tundra is THE worst platform to start with to build into an offroad truck. Buy a yota pickup, ranger or f150 if you want to build a prerunner for as little money as possible. Anyways..
She was my daily driver, work truck, and weekend warrior for 6 years and 160,000 miles. Of those miles, I’d say ~6,000 were dirt miles. I retired her in March of last year, 2019, with 260k miles on the clock. The only maintenance she’s ever needed aside from fluid changes have been: water pump/timing belt service (every 100k per Toyota) a new radiator, 2 bad wheel bearings, a few sensors, and a pulley bearing. (Story on the pulley bearing later also) Hands down, it has been the best truck/vehicle I have ever or will ever own.
Enough jibber jabber. Let’s get onto some photos of when I first brought her home and get into the actual building and having fun part. There will TONS of pictures to come so I hope your internet connection is solid.
February 2013
History: I bought her in February 2013. She had come up for sale on craigslist about a year prior and was exactly what I was looking for. It only popped up for sale that one time and luckily I took a screenshot of the ad. I texted the guy probably 10 months later when I had the cash to buy it and he still had it sitting in his garage in Upland. It was a 2nd vehicle for him and he only used it to take his dirt bike to the track and ocotillo.
It had 114k miles on the clock when I bought it and came with a Total Chaos kit on the front with a set of glassworks fenders. It was bone stock aside from that and the usual intake/exhaust/sound system.
The first trip out I quickly learned the truck had never been driven offroad, just like the guy I bought it from had told me. More details on that later.. (Not a good thing)
When I bought it, I owned Chris Isenhour’s old F150 and had the intention to build that, as that’s my all time dream truck to build a prerunner with. If I ever sell this truck, it will be a standard cab 92-96 F150 that I build next.
However, I needed a solid, reliable DD and work truck, and the tundra ended up being exactly what the doctor ordered. I sold the F150 a few days after buying the tundra. She’s been the most reliable, trusty steed I’ve ever owned. I had owned I think 6 fords previous to this Toyota and let me tell ya, this Toyota was a breath of fresh air; as far as reliability and durability goes. However, as far as building a prerunner out of, the tundra is THE worst platform to start with to build into an offroad truck. Buy a yota pickup, ranger or f150 if you want to build a prerunner for as little money as possible. Anyways..
She was my daily driver, work truck, and weekend warrior for 6 years and 160,000 miles. Of those miles, I’d say ~6,000 were dirt miles. I retired her in March of last year, 2019, with 260k miles on the clock. The only maintenance she’s ever needed aside from fluid changes have been: water pump/timing belt service (every 100k per Toyota) a new radiator, 2 bad wheel bearings, a few sensors, and a pulley bearing. (Story on the pulley bearing later also) Hands down, it has been the best truck/vehicle I have ever or will ever own.
Enough jibber jabber. Let’s get onto some photos of when I first brought her home and get into the actual building and having fun part. There will TONS of pictures to come so I hope your internet connection is solid.
February 2013
